Re: Townsend

[Dave Faneuf <tklaundry@juno.com>]

On Tue, 14 Jan 2003 17:07:07 -0500 "Dan Billings"
<billings@suscom-maine.net> writes:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Laurence" <mlaurence@mindspring.com>
> To: "Dave Faneuf" <tklaundry@juno.com>;
> <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 1:54 PM
> Subject: Re: Townsend
> 
> 
> > On 14 Jan 2003 at 12:00, Dave Faneuf wrote:
> 
> > Yes.  It happened to an NPR freelance reporter in Maryland in 
> 1998,
> > and he ended up pleading guilty after a judge refused to allow him 
> a
> > First Amendment defense.
> 
> Does the First Amendment give anyone the right to ignore a criminal 
> statute?
> 
> And we should keep in mind that criminal defendants often come up 
> with
> inventive justifications for their crimes.  They are not always 
> telling the
> truth.
> 
> This guy admitted to both downloading and sending child pornography 
> from his
> home computer.
> 
> If he was really researching a story, he should have started by 
> checking out
> the law.
> 
> -- Dan Billings, Bowdoinham, Maine

So I guess reporters have to take the government's word on this stuff,
independent verification will get you arrested....nice
df